My Little Brother's Romance
by Sexy Bookworm
Summary: While getting ready for a date, and going to the date. Although, that proves to be harder then it looks. Frank Hardy tells the story of his brother and his best friend, fallig in love, from his point of view. AU
1. Chapter 1

Note: Wow, this is long. It's Alternative Universe, because Joe and Iola are best friends until 18, when something happens. But, I love it. I think it's my best piece of romance/angst/ anything but humor. Now read, and listen to a soft romance song while reading. Be warned, though. It is very cliché. It's also edited by a friend, and totally finished. Epilogue and ALL. So, the more you review, the more you get.

I stand in front of the mirror, getting ready for yet another date. At the age of 35, I can assure you, I have gone on many many many dates. I have flirted, given, talked, and worked my way through many potential soul mates. But yet, through these 23 years of dating angst or so, I have not once given up on love. Why, you ask? Because I have seen love with my own two eyes. No, not on TV, or in a love song, or even in a book. I have watched my little brother, and my best friend, fall into love. And never fall out. I watched their relationship grow. And that gives me the courage to put on my good luck tie, my infamous jeans, and 'nice shirt' (not by my mother's standards) and go out there. In fact, I'm tying that lucky tie right now.

I remember when my little brother, Joe, and my dear friend, Iola, met.

We were all seven. Aw, seven. You know, the age when you stop drooling and stuttering, but Santa Claus is still as real as your own two hands? A very nice age. You see, Joe and I were best friends with Iola's big brother, Chet. For six years, Iola was nothing but a burden to Joe, Chet, and me when we played army in their backyard. She'd always insist on being the 'nurse', and freak out when one of us faked death. It always annoyed us. She was always tagging along. But then we turned 13. And, suddenly playing army was un-cool. Ha, how much you rely on being cool when your 13. Then, fitting in is the most important thing, so important that you don't bother to realize that the people who aren't trying to fit in are the special one's. Iola was one of those. Maybe that's why she and Joe became friends. I really don't remember how or why, or even exactly, but hey, who does remember how and why they became best friends with somebody?

Wait, where are my shoes?

I sigh as I look around for my shoes. Darn, where are those? I paid 50 bucks for those, on SALE !

Suddenly, I trip over my shoes. Whatever. I've had worse. I've forgotten pants, I've ran out of gas, I've gotten pie slammed into my face.

But I keep trying. I'm going to find my true love.

Oh yes, I was telling you about Joe and Iola. Yes, well, anyways, they became friends. It was sudden, and slick, but next thing we knew little Joey and little Iola were connected at the hip. Roaming the neighborhood, on the computer, going places, doing everything. Doing nothing. The funny thing is though, they never ever agreed on anything. Anything at all. Iola cared less about what people thought. She wore shoes that didn't match socks too.

Speaking of socks, where are mine? No wonder my shoes felt funny.

"Crap, darn apartment."

I mumble as I accidentally stub my toe on the edge of my dresser, and then pull out my black socks. Sorry, god, I feel like an old man.

Anyways, Joe and Iola.

So, they were connected at the hip. And, of course, they agreed on nothing, Joe, like any teenager, cared too much about other people's opinions. And Iola, cared so little that she often got into trouble with others. Iola liked mix matched things, and insanity, so to speak. She wore foot flops in winter, and Joe was constantly yelling at her for it, saying she would get a cold. She never did. He never stood up to the 'popular kids' and Iola sometimes hated him for it. But, they never stopped being friends.

I guess opposites do really attract.

Despite all their bickering, their yelling, screaming, stomping, and door slamming. Iola and Joe held no secrets. When Iola got dumped by boys, she ran to Joe. (I know this because sometimes I would watch them from the top of our staircase, which over looks the living room. Or listen thought them when that went from our rec-room basement to the bathroom. They just…clicked so well together it warmed a person's heart to watch them.) And when girl's dumped Joe, she ran to him. They really got each other. They were like a friend ship necklace. Completing one another's picture. They had something.

Speaking of something, I've got to pick up Kellie in twenty minutes, and I feel like I'm forgetting something. Is…no, I've got pants…KEYS!

I run into the kitchen and grab my keys, and run for the car. Sweet, sweet car.

Anyways, like I said, they clicked and completed. They were one step away from romance. And then, when we were eighteen (Well, I was nineteen. Going to college and living at home) the dam broke, and Iola and Joe finally realized they had something. It all started with Joe's girlfriend, some girl named Ashlee. Iola hated her. Every time Joe talked about her, Iola's blood obviously boiled. So, then their birthday's rolled around. That's another thing, they shared a birthday. They always spent it together. But then Joe lies to Iola and he secretly spent the day with Ashlee, and Iola found out. I went to see Iola that day. She scared me so bad. Iola, a ray of sunshine, had suddenly gone dark. I nearly cried with her as she told me about how she felt, how confused she was, how she wished she and Joe were little kids again, that this year never stared, and that they were still laying in our basement listening to Elton John records. I have never felt pain that real, not even my own.

Crap, was I supposed to turn on Mulberry Street ? Oh god. I sigh as I pick up the directions sitting on the passenger seat. Yes…yes…Ok, turning around.

Anyways, so, Joe hurt Iola something awful. Then Iola met this guy, Bo Rivers, at a party.

But he wasn't just any guy.

He was star football player. Heart throb. Wow.

By then Iola had kind of forgiven Joe. But Joe hasn't forgiven himself. So, next thing we know its homecoming. And then our parent's got divorced. 20 years of marriage, and they freaking give up? I was mad. Joe was mad. But, then we didn't realize that they weren't in love anymore. We hadn't seen love, except in movies, and you can't really see love, until you have loved. And the thing is, love isn't an act. It just isn't.

No actor or actress can portray love. No matter how good. Unless they are in love, that is.

So, anyways, it's homecoming. Then, Ashlee broke up with Joe, saying that he was cheating on her, when he wasn't, and since back then love was a touchy subject, this got under Joe's skin and made him ten times more pissed off then he already was. So he was one pissed off kid. Meanwhile, Iola and Joe are kinda-sorta-not-really-no friends again. But every moment is strained. They still click, but the bond they have is taking some blows. So, it's homecoming. And Iola and Joe, being best friends for so long, well, Iola can tell something's wrong with Joe. So, she confronts him. And Joe, not really excepting it, makes some remarks he doesn't mean. Some really bad remarks, made in the heat of the moment. And Iola says some things she doesn't mean. And then it's one big argument of lies. _All lies! _I know this because they had this argument on my porch step, when homecoming was over. I just might have opened my window, which is above the porch, and listed. Then, some more yelling, words so harsh that even I don't want to repeat. And Iola slapped Joe. And took off running. I'm not sure which of the three of us was crying harder. Joe, because he just picked a fight with his best friend when he needed her shoulder to cry on, Iola, because her best friend was blocking her out, or me, because I knew they were made for each other, and they were in denial. I could tell by the way they touched, the way they looked at each other. It was real.


	2. Chapter 2

Joe wasn't very good for the next few days. He mostly hung out around home, and let me tell you, I've never seen him that bad before. Never. Then I though, oh god, Iola. So, I went to her house and COUGH KIDNAPPED COUGH dragged her, still in her P.J.'s, out to a coffee shop. Our conversation went something like this:

_I ran my hand along the booth, sipping my smoothie. I think Iola knew what I was going to say. Oh, she definitely did._

"_So, how's your smoothie?"  
Asks Iola, as she sips her simple coffee. I take a sip of my banana/ blueberry smoothie, and answer her._

"_Fruity. How's your coffee?"  
Iola's glass blue eyes shift downward. She's pale and drawn, and, oh god, she looks so so fragile._

"_Hot."  
I shifted awkwardly. Mom and dad were with lawyers. Aunt Gertrude was actually on a date. I pity the man who she was on a date with. Joe was home alone. I was actually afraid to leave him home alone. And, from the look of Iola's mother's face when I opened the door, she was afraid to leave Iola alone too. Bring on the teenage angst. I sigh and decided it was now or never._

"_So let's have a heart to heart."_

_Iola closes her eyes tightly and sighs. She looks as if she's about to cry._

"_I can't."_

_She whispers so softly that I can barely hear her._

"_Why?"_

_I whisper, equally softly, back._

_Iola opens her eyes and stirs her coffee. Her eyes shine with tears._

"_Because Joe broke my heart."_

_I shifted awkwardly yet again. She broke Joe's, too. Although it really wasn't her fault. It was more so the guilt from hurting her that broke Joe's heart._

_I suddenly feel the need to take Iola's hand and squeeze it in comfort, so I do._

"_You know he would never hurt you on purpose."_

_Iola smiles, but it's so soft, so bitter, so hardly there that it doesn't make me smile or reassure me, but just the opposite._

"_I know. I know. GOD, I know. But it doesn't change the fact that he did."_

_I look down at the table like it's the most interesting thing ever. I want to tell Iola that Joe loves her, that she loves him. That they click, that they complete each other. But I know that if I do say that, it'll make everything worse. I know I need to wait and see, but I don't want to._

"_He's sorry."_

_Iola shakes her head, as if to say no way._

"_How do you know?"_

_I take her hand again, and mentally force her to meet my eyes._

"_I just do."_

_Iola then takes an extremely shaky breath. Oh god, I don't do well with crying girls. But, the again, if it helps them to realize what they have, and how lucky they are, I can deal. I can deal._

_Then, out of the blue, Iola speaks.  
"I miss him."_

_I instantly sit up straighter. Progress._

"_But…I don't want to see him. I can't see him. It hurts."_

_I sigh and rub my temples. Oh god, what have you two DONE?_

"_I know, Iola. I know."_

_We sit in silence for another five minutes. Then I decided that I at least had to give my two cents, or, sugar coated two cents because here is no way I'm letting Iola know I listened in our her and Joe's fight. She just thinks that I know that they had a huge killer fight over Ashlee and other things._

_I squeeze her hand once more, and then take her chin in my hands. Forcing her, once again, to meet her glass eyes with my brown ones._

"_Listen to this Iola Morton, because it's the best advice I will ever EVER give you._

_I have never seen anybody fit so perfectly like you and Joe. And I know one of you will come around. You always do. And even if you don't think that, is the last eleven years worth whatever stupid argument you had? The connection you have is beyond rare, beyond belief, no matter what current form it's in."_

_Iola then started crying._

I remember that day so well. The smell of coffee, Iola bursting into tears.

You might think she's being over dramatic, that Joe's over dramatic, and that I was over dramatic. But you had to be there, to see it. Them. It. Us. To see the way their eyes met, the way they challenged each other each and very goddamn day, to see it all.

Oh god, where am I? Is that a gang? I instantly lock the doors in my car. Shit, I'm in gang banger territory. I sigh and start up the windshield wipers as it starts to rain. Ok, this might hurt my ego, but next gas station I'm stopping for directions.

Ok, so. I take Iola home. Nothing gained, nothing lost. Except our pride.

They didn't come face to face for another four weeks. Or maybe it was more. It was nearly Christmas. And I was going to pick Joe up because his car was in the shop. I had walked into the school to talk to an old teacher and friend of mine, and I noticed Iola drop her pencil at the end of the hall. Then, my brother picked it up. He held it out, she didn't take it. They just stared at each other. I couldn't-and still can't- read lips. But I knew nothing big was said.

But they lied when they said they were Ok.

Then, Iola's kinda-sorta-yes-unforunitly star quarter-back boyfriend comes up from behind Iola and put his arm around her. Joe then walked away quietly, with Bo making jokes about him.

We both punched lockers then.


End file.
